How I spent my summer vacation: New York City for play, not work

By Miriam Bradman Abrahams

Many of my friends commute to the city for work but can’t imagine riding in for a day of leisure; I delight in the cultural opportunities available to New Yorkers. I recently got to play tour guide to cousins visiting from abroad. My organizational and navigating skills got a real workout and I enjoyed new adventures with my charges.

This involved some effort on my part: late night web surfing to plan the next morning’s full day. I planned routes, marked subway and bus maps so my visitors could decipher the intricacies of our public transportation system, checked out museum days and hours, and Googled maps of neighborhoods I’m not so familiar with and wanted to explore. I enjoyed having an excuse to roam the streets of New York and lead my guests to off-the-beaten-path wonders. A special bonus was finding free or cheap thrills in our expensive city.

Our visitors came from all over the world: Israel, South Africa, Canada, Puerto Rico and other U.S. states. I tailored the plans to their individual taste and pace. Some preferred just one or two stops in a day, while others enjoyed a busier schedule. Some enjoy musicals while others prefer drama; some preferred walking between points while others liked getting to their destination more directly. But all our visitors shared a love for New York City and yearned to experience the “real” New York.

Many new adventures awaited my guests. Everyone knows about the Staten Island Ferry, which is a fun ride, but there’s a brand new ferry to a newly opened island right next to it. We rode the free ferry to Governor’s Island, which has just opened to the public. On the small island we were treated to free art exhibits and a free concert, car-free walking and bicycling paths and the most beautiful 360-degree views of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. We had a clear view of the Statue of Liberty and enjoyed a park-like atmosphere and a cool breeze on a very hot Sunday in July.

We enjoyed another incredible view of Manhattan from the rooftop of the Metropolitan Museum. Each summer a new art installation can be viewed, set off by a background of Central Park’s treetops and the awesome edifices just beyond the greenery of the park. This year’s exhibit of an enormous stainless steel tree didn’t disappoint and can be seen for a minimal donation to the museum, as you may opt to pay what you wish.

We enjoyed roaming art galleries as well as museums so we spent hours walking the streets of Chelsea. Weaving through the teens and 20’s between 10th and 11th avenues, we popped into as many art galleries as we could manage. The exhibits are free and you can choose from New York magazine’s listings or enter randomly and be surprised. Also new to Chelsea is the High Line, an old railway line recently converted to an elevated walkway. It is planted beautifully with wild grasses and flowers, and has benches to sit on and enjoy a bird’s-eye view of the Hudson and of the evolving architecture in this exciting corner of the city.

We took the L train to Williamsburg and enjoyed the unique shops and art galleries in that eclectic neighborhood. We shared a long walk back to Manhattan’s Lower East Side via the Williamsburg Bridge along with the cyclists and the rumbling M train. We enjoyed breathtaking views of the other East River bridges and some great exercise. Exiting onto Delancey Street, we were able to tour Old New York and decided on a tour of the Tenement Museum. When we got thirsty we drank refreshingly cold, old-fashioned New York egg creams.

No New York tour is complete without the theater and Central Park. TKTS offers half-priced tickets to many Broadway and off-Broadway shows, if you’re willing to wait in line. This year, Times Square has been reinvented as a pedestrian haven with places to sit and rest including the new steps of the TKTS booth. Central Park offered us (and tens of thousands of others) a free New York Philharmonic concert with an awesome fireworks display at the end of the show. You can still line up for free Shakespeare in the Park tickets (publictheater.org) or enjoy the variety of street performers in all the parks. From the Cloisters on the top of Manhattan to Battery Park on the bottom there are amazing parks where you can catch your breath while enjoying amazing views and, of course, people watching is always a fun and free activity.

My visitors were elated and exhausted from all our adventures. Besides the satisfaction I got from entertaining guests, I received the added benefit of losing a couple of pounds from all the walking... and it’s really the best way to cover every inch of our incredible city!

When was the last time you took a ride to Penn Station to begin a day of fun rather than work?